Stored since 1971, this original-paint car is all-original with very little rust-through other than on the floor pans. It’s a 1963 Mercury Comet, if you can see it, all of the photos were taken at night for some reason. This night stalker is listed on eBay with an unmet opening bid of $800. Get your flashlight and passport ready, this one is located in Dugald, Manitoba, Canada.
It’s unfortunate to have taken the photos at night, but the car looks pretty solid from what you can see of them. There will be lots of surface rust to work with, hopefully it hasn’t weakened the panels too much. 1963 was the last year for the first-generation Comet and I think the first-generation cars had the most interesting shape/style/design of any of them. It was a “jaunty, elegant” car! Oddly enough, for the 1960 and 1961 years, the Comet wasn’t badged as a Mercury even though it was sold through Mercury dealerships.
This is the only interior photo, unfortunately, and other than the cracked steering wheel it looks pretty decent. But, you can see rust lurking behind the gauge cluster and the seller mentions that the floors will need some work. The missing accelerator pedal could be gotten from a number of websites that deal in Comet/Falcon parts and pieces. The one-piece floor mat is a nice touch but I bet it’s pretty brittle after five decades.
Here’s where the 289 V8 will go, eventually, most likely. But, for now, this is the stock 170 cubic-inch inline-six with 101 hp and it was introduced to at least slow down the complaints about the base 144 cubic-inch engine. The current owner is giving the hard-sell on putting a V8 in this car and I’m fairly sure that’s what will happen eventually. It will be a lot of work to knock down whatever rust is lurking on this car and whatever other restoration items that it needs, but it’ll be worth it!
I would be tempted to leave a six cylinder in this car. A 300 cubic inch six cylinder.
I’ve seen some 300 sixes that were just awesome. Gobs of torque. Plus, I like the “wow” factor of popping the hood and seeing a straight 6.
I had a ’69 Mustang base coupe that I got new with a 250 six and 3 on the floor. It moved along fairly well although it couldn’t compete with the 300’s, 260’s or 289’s. It remained a good car until the mid 80’s when the rust monster took over, not unusual for Cleveland, Ohio.
My bother had one of these with a 260 V8 and a 3 speed on the floor. I like it… but I like everything
Cool gasser project!
Now yer talkin’.( 3rd run, very impressive) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si7ejYi2Dx0
Kevin. Are you crazy? What are you thinking?You must be crazy just throwin the word GASSER out there all Willy Nilly like that.You must be verwee verwee careful . Especially when the guys start praising the almighty 6 C Linder .I wanted to turn that old Chevy Sedan Delivery from the other day into a Gasser.Well let me tell ya,that did not go over well at all.But I do like your idea this car would make a Kool Gasser .It already looks like its trying to yank the front wheels off the ground in that first pic. Oh no. Ya know what I just realized? I’m Crazy too.
You can do a Gasser. As long as it has a 300 six in it! Dare to be different. Lol. Nothing but love for my gear head brothers.
It’s always dark in Dugald, Manitoba, Canada in late December.
I think some good ole boy is going to wake up and his project car is going to be gone..
I like it. Would love to drive it as is, right down to the bent up license plate. And maybe a big 6 in there. Sixes sound soooo good…and different.
Wow, that car looks *identical* to one I had a few years back. I had three, a running driving sedan, a running but not roadworthy blue coupe and an S22 white coupe parts car in rough shape. Not sure what happened to the 4 door, but I know a year or so after I sold the coupes they popped up in a wrecking yard being parted out, and I imagine by now are crushed. Sad deal, they were good project cars. Hopefully they parted out well.
Scotty, please notice the M-E-R-C-U-R-Y badges on every side of this 1963 Comet pictured above. So, yes, they were badged as a Mercury. Originally the Comet was intended as an Edsel; but with the demise of Edsel, Comet’s quickly became a Mercury. The original script for C-O-M-ET was done in the style of
E-D-S-E-L.
Exactly, it was supposed to be an Edsel, and I believe the first cars had an “E” emblem on the hubcaps.
In ’75 I had one that looked like this one that had no rust whatsoever. Paid $15.00 for it. 260 V8 had low compression and burned oil but it ran. Parted it out and tripled my money. Today I wish I would have had a place to store it and lot of other cars that crossed my path.
nuttin wrong wid a 6. The pic/avatar shows a vehicle equipped w/the 170 – a lill tractor! Got a 250/4.1 now.
These cars spawned the stang & whole muscle era – mine the suv revolution.
Boy, guess I kinda opened a can of worms here. To be fair,I owned a 63 falcon futura with the 170 and 4 speed. Drove it like that for awhile, took a good half an hour to reach freeway speeds( kidding,of course). Had a wrecked 67 fairlane way beyond my my means of putting it back on the road,dropped everything in the falcon, proceeded to race everything that dared to try and beat everyone. Way too much fun!